Freda Magnus - July 22, 1982

Rescuing Mother

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By the fence to um, wait. She under...somebody will maybe come for her and she was waiting by the fence to watch--she was watching somebody ???, you know. And I--she came close the gate and I went and pushed her, to the policeman the money and I break her out from there. But my mother was so sick now. We had to walk back home and this was very far. She couldn't even ???. And she had already--later she had heart trouble so I went to the--to a house--I walk in house and I left her sitting there and I said, "Ma, I will go and find maybe somebody will--to drive you home." And as soon I walked home I saw on the first a wagon with a ??? you know, how you calling this? Shit, in there. You know, you know shit?

Yeah.

The wagons we used to have...

The garbage for the...

Garbage--not only garbage but shit.

Manure wagons...

Yeah, those wagons were some around wagons, they only was allowed to travel so I said, "Listen, please, take my mother home. I pay you so much and so much--take my mother home." So they went--I can't believe that they pushed my mother in the wagon inside, you know. It was empty, but, you know, and I sat and put on one of those garbage dresses, you know, with him on the side and my mother inside and he took us home and from this time my mother got very ill. She got uh, I don't know, she got cancer later from it. She developed uh, uh, a sore what we couldn't heal it, you know, because I don't know what to do, they're from what, from this time she start becoming very, very ill. And happen again then they came two days after again to separate the people--segregate the people and I said to my mother, "Oh, this time you can't go out." So, I went and--yeah and my fa...they took my father too but my father was a very, you know, handy--was a young man and he jumped from the wagon down and he hide himself and he came back--my father. So then next time they came I say to my mother, "You don't go down." So, but--she didn't want to just stay, stay by herself so I had to hide in the house too in case somebody comes in maybe I need ???. So I hide her in the bed--made the beds, you know, like nobody's here and I left open the door wide like we all walked out...

Mm-hm.

...and I, and I hide myself in the--in a closet, you know. I can tell you ??? sees me I made everything over me sitting in this--then was maybe two hours I was in this hiding and the came and looked in the room and they saw that nobody is in the house so they went away and I was left with my mother, you know, in the house. My father was hiding and he came back. And after a few weeks my mother died. No fair for this, you know, she was so afraid, you know, her heart...